This forum post on the Chinese Diablo III website indicates that Blizzard's action/RPG is offline in Asia as they deal with duplicate items. They say (translated) "less than 0.01% of the items have been copied," though according to Blend Games, "the Asian virtual marketplace in Diablo III has become ostensibly flooded with duplicate items and hyper-inflation." Here is Google Translate's rough machine interpretation of Blizzard's Chinese statement:

First of all, we are deeply grateful to you for your patience waiting for the development team during this maintenance time in order to restore the service as a whole.

On June 10, our development team has found some error on the stored items in the database, these errors represent a very small part of the items can not be normal trading or selling. This error caused all less than 0.01% of the items have been copied, the majority of players and is not affected by this problem, but the database before removing these duplicated items, is unable to maintain stable. Therefore, we carried out the maintenance of the server, and perform the necessary operations to fix this problem. The development team is currently working to make the server able to resume service as soon as possible.

All original items and their reproductions will be removed from the database, follow-up, we will tell the exact time of maintenance completed, but currently estimated Server recovery services some time in the afternoon of June 11, 8 pm (Taiwan time).

We have also noted that part of the players during a short period of the game after the break and suffered back problems. This issue follow-up will be further instructions.Note: to restore service postponed to 20:00

Jerykk wrote on Jun 12, 2012, 00:51:I've never really understood the point of having an auction house in a game that's entirely driven by loot. Really, the only reason people play it is to get loot. If you're just going to buy loot from the auction house, why bother playing at all?

It's goal was supposedly to supplement or replace insecure player trading that used to take place through third party websites and whatnot. In previous Diablo games a lot more "useful" loot dropped but it was shared amongst all the players in the game. In Diablo 3 loot is instanced so anything you see drop is yours alone, other people in the same game get different things.

All of that by itself would be fine but they made other mistakes at the same time. First they reduced the drop rate of rares and introduced the Nephalem Valor system to supplement magic find runs. Second, they dramatically reduced the overall unique/set/etc item loot table in favor of more homogenized items. Third they made some design mistakes in class design with regards to attributes. There is little reason to seek out other stats for your gear so people often discard items without a good "roll" of the stat distro.

Lastly, most of the "decent" gear only drops in later acts of Inferno which has lead to people farming gold with bots or exploiting chest spawns so that they can get gear to do the content itself (the gear to do Inferno drops from Inferno, not smart). The whole system is ass backwards and really misses the point on what people enjoyed about Diablo 2.

Wallshadows wrote on Jun 11, 2012, 22:14:Well, like others have said, I feel as though there is a a great game buried beneath and it will likely take time before we are able to enjoy it for what it is rather than find ways to nit pick and voice our opinions about certain design elements.

I play it, I grind 5 NV stacks and punch Siegebreaker in the face, rinse and repeat, but I know there is much room for improvement both from Blizzard and with the game and I think that will start with 1.03.

1.03 did not help dammok 1.03 a will do it ...dammno it is for sure 1.04 is the patch that will turn it around , mann they blizz got you right were they want you

Maybe, but that sure is sad. There was a time when the industry was full of people for whom making games people wanted was a passion, and being able to make a living while doing that was an impossible dream come true for them. In any creative medium, the best works are invariably by people who are interested in making great art first, and a buck second.

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” - Mahatma Gandhi

Wowbagger_TIP wrote on Jun 12, 2012, 02:41:I really don't understand what they're trying to do with this game, aside from making assloads of money. Maybe that's the only point to the whole thing?

Thats the whole thing of every game published. To make the devs and/or investors money. Which isn't a bad thing per se.

But there are different levels of making money. You can pursue a fair trade, where everyone profits or you are just greedy, fucking everyone left and right in the pursuit of making as much money as humanly possible. Guess, what strategy Blizzard is apparently following with Diablo 3 ...

Wowbagger_TIP wrote on Jun 12, 2012, 02:41:And has Bliz actually made much of an effort to fight the cheaters? From all the stories we've seen so far, I'd say not really.

I agree, no not really. They've practically said they haven't banned cheaters yet when they announced "bans will start soon." They are thinking that waves of bans months apart such as they've done in the past is the way to go, which is crazy. Their economy will crash in that time frame.

Jerykk wrote on Jun 12, 2012, 00:51:I've never really understood the point of having an auction house in a game that's entirely driven by loot. Really, the only reason people play it is to get loot. If you're just going to buy loot from the auction house, why bother playing at all?

Because people want to shortcut the grinding process. The choice ends up being a) grind your current difficulty/act for 10 hours to get geared to hit the next act, or b) spend 5 minutes in the AH. Its the same design as facebook type games with limited energy/actions per day, or everything being timed, yet if you pay money, you get more energy/actions or speed up timed actions. Only a couple percent of people that play those kinda games pay money, but its enough to keep them in business and raking in the cash. Well in blizzard's case, its more than a couple percent that use the AH, but likely only a couple percent will use the RMAH.

Kosumo wrote on Jun 11, 2012, 23:30:Well to me, the proof will be in what they do, not what has happened.

If the fact that it is all ways on DRM/Single-player means that they have good data recording and can tell what is a dupe item and what is a ilget (true) item due to them generating all real items server side and they can manage what as happened, then anit that better than un-controlled item duping?

I just wish to ask those who are against the all ways on DRM, what would they have done to help keep the intergrty (lack of cheating) in an AAA (i hate that term) title that was design to be played online in co-op?

Cheating wreck a lot of online gaming and I'm happy that people are making an effort to combat it.

There will always be cheating thought.

Anyone got any answers to cheating other than always on?

If you can't do it right, then don't make that kind of game? And has Bliz actually made much of an effort to fight the cheaters? From all the stories we've seen so far, I'd say not really. The economy looks like it's gonna go downhill real quick with the inflationary prices. Why bother with an economy at all if you can't control it in a way that still makes the game fun?

They've got auction houses that look to detract more than add to the fun of the game, a hardcore mode that's worthless because of the online-only requirement, serious balance issues, and bots and other forms of cheating that they don't seem to be doing much about. I really don't understand what they're trying to do with this game, aside from making assloads of money. Maybe that's the only point to the whole thing?

Jerykk wrote on Jun 12, 2012, 00:51:I've never really understood the point of having an auction house in a game that's entirely driven by loot. Really, the only reason people play it is to get loot. If you're just going to buy loot from the auction house, why bother playing at all?

Pretty much sums it up right there.

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts." -- Bertrand Russell (I think...)

m00t wrote on Jun 12, 2012, 01:19:... it's still duping and they should delete the items (or gold earned from their sale) from the accounts of those who did it, or better ban them and nuke the accounts from orbit.

Wallshadows wrote on Jun 11, 2012, 21:43:The player who provides the crafting materials will have his inventory reset to still have the materials and the player who crafted the items will still have the item. You're not making two identical items, you're simply provided unlimited materials to make entirely new items.

I'm confused, how is that not duping?

But, but, it's not technically the exact same exact type of exact duping that exactly happened in diablo 2, so, it's not "duping"!

Wallshadows wrote on Jun 11, 2012, 21:43:The player who provides the crafting materials will have his inventory reset to still have the materials and the player who crafted the items will still have the item. You're not making two identical items, you're simply provided unlimited materials to make entirely new items.

I'm confused, how is that not duping? You're duping the crafting materials (the ones re-added to the inventory and the ones traded to the crafter are the same commodity items). What you do with them after is irrelevant, it's still duping and they should delete the items (or gold earned from their sale) from the accounts of those who did it, or better ban them and nuke the accounts from orbit.

I've never really understood the point of having an auction house in a game that's entirely driven by loot. Really, the only reason people play it is to get loot. If you're just going to buy loot from the auction house, why bother playing at all?

Blizzard went with the always online to work against having the same cheating that happened in Diablo 2. Its a little simplistic to call Diablo 3's always online aspect "DRM".

Its not clear from the translation if this was people duping items or some kind of game bug. There were posts on the game forum about having two of the exact same item drop off a mob. Which I had happen myself once.

eunichron wrote on Jun 12, 2012, 00:00:People who actively participated in the game economy did. A lot of people seem to not remember, but for a little while there was quite a few items being sold in Diablo 2 through Ebay for real money. I think along with EverQuest, Diablo 2 was one of the first games that had a fairly substantial real money market associated with it, which is a huge reason why Blizzard decided to go with the RMAH.

I remember that part very well, had a very enterprising friend who had over 50 mules which he cataloged in notebooks. But my point was... how did that effect others? It only begins to hurt others when you connect them through the AH and they experience the inflation. As far as competition goes, presently D3 has less than D2 right?

Going with the RMAH isn't something Blizzard is doing to cut down on cheating (it actually makes it more attractive) it just wanted a piece of that pie. I also don't see why third party markets won't pop up anyway, especially with Blizzard taking 30% or whatever that is.

Kosumo wrote on Jun 11, 2012, 23:30:There will always be cheating thought

And that's the kicker. There will always be cheating, there will always be hackers, there will always be exploiters. It doesn't matter what kind of DRM, connectivity requirement, or whatever developers try to implement, there will always be someone trying to break their shit. That doesn't mean they shouldn't try, but the only thing they can conceivably do is be reactive in a timely manner, which Blizzard is doing. I don't mind Blizzard's always on requirement, because I haven't had any issues with it, but anyone who thought that it would be a 100% unbreakable system was naive.

Sepharo wrote on Jun 11, 2012, 23:59:Yeah there were hardcore ladders and quick informal PvP duels but did people care that others duped items? How did it affect them? Honest question since I did't play online much except a few times with friends and usually lanning anyway.

People who actively participated in the game economy did. A lot of people seem to not remember, but for a little while there was quite a few items being sold in Diablo 2 through Ebay for real money. I think along with EverQuest, Diablo 2 was one of the first games that had a fairly substantial real money market associated with it, which is a huge reason why Blizzard decided to go with the RMAH.

Kosumo wrote on Jun 11, 2012, 23:30:Well to me, the proof will be in what they do, not what has happened.

If the fact that it is all ways on DRM/Single-player means that they have good data recording and can tell what is a dupe item and what is a ilget (true) item due to them generating all real items server side and they can manage what as happened, then anit that better than un-controlled item duping?

I just wish to ask those who are against the all ways on DRM, what would they have done to help keep the intergrty (lack of cheating) in an AAA (i hate that term) title that was design to be played online in co-op?

Cheating wreck a lot of online gaming and I'm happy that people are making an effort to combat it.

There will always be cheating thought.

Anyone got any answers to cheating other than always on?

No auction houses RM or not. Simple offline single player and online coop modes with friends. You won't get rid of cheating, but who are you cheating? If people want to cheat in a PvE game with their friends... big deal I guess. The cheating only affects other players through the AH when it raises the prices, right? Honestly I'm not sure what cheating in D2 entailed... Yeah there were hardcore ladders and quick informal PvP duels but did people care that others duped items? How did it affect them? Honest question since I did't play online much except a few times with friends and usually lanning anyway.

If the fact that it is all ways on DRM/Single-player means that they have good data recording and can tell what is a dupe item and what is a ilget (true) item due to them generating all real items server side and they can manage what as happened, then anit that better than un-controlled item duping?

I just wish to ask those who are against the all ways on DRM, what would they have done to help keep the intergrty (lack of cheating) in an AAA (i hate that term) title that was design to be played online in co-op?

Cheating wreck a lot of online gaming and I'm happy that people are making an effort to combat it.